Harry Gladwin Byrd (February 3, 1925 - May 14, 1985) was a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1950, 1952-53), New York Yankees (1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Chicago White Sox (1955-56) and Detroit Tigers (1957). He was born in Darlington, South Carolina.

Byrd was a fire-ball throwing pitcher who had a career characterized by uncertainty, constant change, and transition from one team to the next.

Byrd pitched in six games with the Athletics in 1950, spent a season back in the minors, and was called back up to the big club in 1952. That year he enjoyed his best season, going 15-15 with a 3.31 ERA, earned an All-Star berth, and was selected Rookie of the Year.

In 1953 Byrd went 11-20, but he worked 237 innings. At the start of the 1954 season, he was part of a ten-player trade between the Athletics and Yankees. In New York he finished 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA. At the end of the season, he was sent to the Orioles as part of a 17-player mega-deal.

Byrd went 3-2 with Baltimore in 1955, before being shipped off again to the White Sox. He finished with a combined 7-8 record with a 4.61 ERA. After pitching briefly with the Sox in 1956, he ended his career in 1957 with the Tigers.

In a seven-year career, Byrd compiled a 46-54 record with 381 strikeouts and a 4.35 ERA in 827.2 innings.

Byrd lived in the small logging community of Mont Clare, just outside of Darlington, SC. He was a true "blue collar" country boy brought up hunting and fishing. He died in Darlington, South Carolina at age of 60 after a bout with lung cancer. Darlington named a road after him (Harry Byrd Highway), which eventually becomes Bobo Newsom Highway, another major-league pitcher from the area (Hartsville).

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Library
• Historic Baseball - Focusing on players from South Carolina